


foolish lover's game

by ahnakins



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Babysitting, Billy Hargrove Being an Asshole, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Gen, Unrequited Love, no monsters in this story, steve is the greatest single mom hawkins has ever seen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-01-30 16:57:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12657648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahnakins/pseuds/ahnakins
Summary: Steve Harrington is not in love with Nancy Wheeler. He will not be lectured on this by some nerd kid whose only experience with romance is a stupid video game. He doesn’t love Nancy — sure, he’d love to talk to her again and sit next to her or maybe even hold her but that doesn’t mean he’s in love.“You love her,” Dustin had said.Bullshit, Steve thinks, but when he hears it in his head, it’s in Nancy’s voice.Or: Steve is still in love with Nancy, Dustin is very aware, and Billy is causing trouble.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, hope you enjoy this story! I've been thinking of this for a while and decided I had to write it. I'm sort of making it up as I go along, if you like anything in particular or you don't like certain parts, let me know!

Steve Harrington would give anything to even just be friends with Nancy again. It’s as if they forgot everything, as if after all the monster-fighting and terror, their botched relationship never happened.

He _wants_ to talk to her, and he would, but he sees how happy she looks now and he can’t help but wonder if it’s only because she’s not with him anymore. He hasn’t spoken to her for a month now. Sure, he’s at her house a lot — the kids have grown attached to him, and he’s attached to the kids. But whether by coincidence or on purpose, Nancy is never there when he is. Or she shuts herself in her room because she has to study. And even if she does ever come home early, or go out into the kitchen, he always finds an excuse to leave. It’s better this way, he tells himself.

It doesn’t help that Dustin keeps talking about the Snow Ball. It’s stupid, of course, but he can’t help but be mad at the fact that this _kid_ danced with Nancy and he didn’t. It sounds so much more immature when he thinks of it like that. Maybe he’s been spending too much time around these kids.

“Dustin, shut up,” Lucas calls across the room. “You’re not special because you danced with someone. Everyone here got a dance.”

“Yeah, but you guys were all dancing with girls from our class.” Dustin shrugs. “Girls this age are stupid.”

Max coughs loudly and pointedly at this. Dustin’s hat falls off his head as if a sudden gust of wind pushed it off. He dives off the couch to retrieve it.

“The hell…” Steve mutters. He turns around, and just as he suspected, Mike and the weirdo are laughing.

How come nobody told him about that girl? Eleven, her name is. El, for short, and sometimes it’s Jane. But you can’t call her the weirdo, ever since she figured out what it meant and will get mad if you call her that. “Not weird,” she whispers when someone says it. “Cool.”

“Alright, guys, knock it off,” he says. “Some girls are stupid, you two aren’t. Also, EL, don’t use your powers. That’s a Party Rule.”

God, he sounds like his mother. The Party Rules are something that Dustin came up with first, and it sounded pretty dumb to Steve but the more time he spent hanging around five or six preteens the more he thought it was a good idea. So the Party Rules are as follows:

 

  1. You can’t break a promise
  2. Decisions have to be made together
  3. Eleven can’t use her powers against us
  4. Don’t lie to each other
  5. Always listen to Steve



 

The last one was made by Steve, because if he doesn’t have at least some control then things will definitely turn to shit. 

“It’s actually not in contradiction to the Party Rules,” Mike says, jumping up. He points at the small blackboard where it’s all written. “See?”

Steve squints. Next to Rule 3, someone has scrawled _unless there’s a good reason_. Judging by the messy handwriting, Dustin wrote it.

Steve sighs. Sometimes you can’t win. “Looks like you walked yourself into this one, buddy.”

Dustin shrugs, because he knows he deserves it. Steve stands up, and grabs the empty pizza box and the one underneath it. There’s also an empty bag of crisps, so he grabs that too. Eleven had a plate of Eggos — he swears the girl lives off of them — and he dumps it in the pizza box. These kids eat more and more every time. He hopes none of them get taller than him, because then _that_ will be hell. Mike is already growing at an alarming rate.

He checks his watch. It’s 8:15. “Dustin, come on, let’s go,” he says, nodding his head towards the door because his hands are full.

“Ten minutes?”

“No, now.” He starts up the stairs and hopes the kid is following him.

When did he adopt all these little shits? Why is it that every week he drives around to Dustin’s house and brings him to the Wheeler’s, and for some reason stays there? Surely it’s not normal for a 17-year-old to hang around with kids like this all the time. He stopped hanging out with Tommy and the others because, well, they were assholes. And he thought maybe there could be Nancy, but she went with Jonathan and now he feels like there’s not much hope there. There had always been others, but now they all seemmuch more interested in Billy. Goddamn, Steve hates that guy. And not just because Billy beat him up, and someone (Billy) spread the rumour (not a rumour) that he got his ass beaten to protect some kids. Now he’s Steve the Freak, taking Jonathan’s place as the Hawkins High School Weirdo.

“Thanks, Mrs Wheeler,” Steve says, dumping the empty boxes and packets and plates onto the countertop. She smiles at him as she talks on the phone.

At that moment, Dustin comes bounding up the steps, smiling. Steve hopes he’s not up to anything because really, he can’t handle much more tonight.

“Bye Mrs. Wheeler!” Dustin calls. He turns to Steve. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Right,” Steve says. He opens the door, lets Dustin through, and closes it. There’s only a sliver of moon tonight, and it’s cold. Dustin shivers. “Quick, let’s get to the car,” Steve tells him. They jog across the grass, the frost crackling underneath their feet. 

Another car comes racing around the corner, and the headlights momentarily blind Steve. It’s Jonathan’s car, and now half of him wishes he left earlier and the other half feels like he’s right on time.

Jonathan parks straight across from the Wheeler’s, and Steve watches as Nancy’s petite form emerges from the car. Jonathan gets out too, and rounds the car. He kisses Nancy, and she smiles and hugs him goodbye. Then she turns around and crosses the grass.

“Nancy!” Dustin yells.

She turns, and so does Steve. The kid is smiling, and sure he looks kinda cute but the point is that he’s a piece of shit and should not have done that, because now Steve is caught in Nancy’s view, the very last and first place he wants to be.

“Hey,” she grins. She opens the front door, pokes her head through, and calls something inaudible. Moments later, Will runs out of the house and climbs into Jonathan’s car.

Steve is dimly aware that he’s still standing here like an idiot as Nancy quickly goes back and gives Jonathan one last peck. Jonathan waits until she’s safely inside, then climbs into his car. He pokes his head out the window. 

“You alright, Steve?” he calls.

“Huh?” Steve turns. Jonathan is frowning at him, and Dustin is shivering behind him. “Right, yeah. I’m fine. I’m great. See you, Will. Jonathan.” He runs to his car and hopes he hasn’t made a fool of himself any more than he already has.

Steve and Dustin sit in silence the whole way back. Just before Dustin gets out, he turns around to Steve.

“Man, I’m sorry,” he says.

“What?”

“You’re probably mad at me. I get it,” the kid says. He shrugs.

“The hell are you talking about?” Steve asks him.

“You know, Nancy,” Dustin says reasonably. “I get it. You love her. And you told me not to fall in love with girls — which I’m _really_ glad that you told me — but you loved Nancy and I’m — son of a bitch! Crap. I’m sorry I danced with her.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it,” Steve says, because the last thing he wants is this kid on his conscience. “I’m not — I don’t love her.” He laughs uncomfortably. “You go get all the girls you like.”

Dustin frowns. “You just broke Party Rule 4. But hey, I won’t tell.” He runs out of the car and goes inside. Steve pulls out onto the road and makes his way home.

Steve Harrington is _not_ in love with Nancy Wheeler. He will not be lectured on this by some nerd kid whose only experience with romance is a stupid video game. He doesn’t love Nancy — sure, he’d love to talk to her again and sit next to her or maybe even hold her but that _doesn’t_ mean he’s in love.

“You love her,” Dustin had said.

_Bullshit_ , Steve thinks, but when he hears it in his head, it’s in Nancy’s voice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy has his eyes on a girl and accidentally lays eyes on a different one. Trouble will ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I know I said I would be posting maybe once a week but you know, I have no patience and really had to write more. I hope this lives up to the first chapter!

Billy Hargrove is an asshole. Everyone knows this, and yet somehow they're all still obsessed with him. Maybe not obsession, Steve decides. Maybe it’s intrigue.

He turns up to school five minutes before the bell every morning, music blaring. He waits for Max to get out — thank God that girl isn’t like her step-brother — and then he steps out, and all the girls seem to melt. Steve used to be that guy. He can’t help but feel resentful.

Every time Steve looks at him, he still feels every punch. It makes him angry, so angry, but he can’t do a thing about it. He lost last time — he will lose again if he tries.

Physical Education is the worst. Billy taunts him the entire time, somehow he finds a way to have Steve on the ground without fouling every time. Steve used to be the basketball star of Hawkins High School. Now he’s second-best, and somehow second-best is the same as invisible.

_King Steve_ , they used to call him. _I've been waiting to meet this King Steve_ , Billy had said, and then he had replaced him.

Steve looks across the court at his teammates, but they’re all so far away. He wonders if Billy has told them to keep away. They would do it, he knows they would. Even Tommy, because after Steve told him to fuck off he went straight to Billy and his gang of idiots.

Steve only needs to get past Billy and he’s clear. It sounds easier than it is. _Now or never, Harrington_. He runs at him.

It takes perhaps two seconds for Billy to get the ball from him, and somehow Steve finds himself on his back. Again. 

“Long live the King,” Billy grins. He shoots from where he stands. Three points.

Steve groans as he picks himself. Billy and the others are laughing amongst each other, and Steve has a feeling he knows exactly what they’re laughing at.

“Alright boys, that’s enough,” the coach is saying, and then they're off to the showers. Showers are the worst because there’s no coach around to stop Billy from being his trues self — that is, an asshole. In fact, asshole doesn’t even convey the pure hatred Steve has for him. 

“Harrington,” Billy says as he, of course, steps into the shower beside him. “Good game.”

“Piss off,” Steve mutters. 

Billy chuckles. “Touchy.” He looks at Tommy, who’s standing across from them. “Tommy, tell me, who’s the hottest girl in the school?”

Tommy shrugs. “I’ve only got eyes for —”

“Wrong,” Billy says, holding up a hand. “The hottest girl in the school is none other than Nancy Wheeler.”

Steve looks at him, and Billy's crooked smile is infuriating. “She’s already taken,” he tells him curtly. There is no way Billy Hargrove is getting his hands on Nancy.

Billy shrugs. “Hasn’t stopped me before. So, Harrington, what’s she like?”

“The hell do you mean?”

“I _mean_ , what is she like? How does one, uh, _get_ to her?”

Steve hits the tap, shutting the shower off. “You don’t. Don’t touch her.”

Billy laughs, his mouth open wide as he does. There’s something about him, something so awful and annoying and it makes him _angry_ that he just can’t beat him at anything.

 

“No — no, no way,” Steve says. There is no way he’s putting up with this bullshit again. If these kids are his now, so be it — he’s going to protect them. 

Dustin looks at him, putting his hands up as if he’s attempting to calm him down. Whatever it is, it’s not working. “I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I have made mistakes —”

“Mistakes,” Lucas says.

“Yes, Lucas, mistakes! _However_ , I have taken the time to identify it. It’s just a slug.” Dustin smiles.

“That’s what you said about the last one!” Lucas shoots back.

“I don’t like it,” Mike says.

Steve crosses his arms. “Listen, Dustin, you don’t have a good track record when it comes to this shit. Also: Party Rules. You can’t just decide to keep a slug. Decisions have to be made with the _whole_ group.”

“Exactly!” Mike exclaims. “Exactly. Let’s kill it.”

“No! That’s not fair! It’s _my_ slug, not the Party’s.”

“Your right to keep a slug was revoked when you raised a baby Demogorgon!”

“Demodog!”

It’s getting heated, and Steve doesn’t want to interfere. He takes a closer look at the little creature Dustin has brought today. It looks normal enough. It doesn’t have any weird markings on its back, and it’s grey like an average slug. Still, Steve has had _enough_ of this.

“Alright, listen up,” he tells them, forcing them all to shut up. _Finally_ , he thinks. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Dustin, the slug is a no. New party rule: no weird stuff. At all.”

“El’s weird,” Max says.

Eleven glares at her. Apparently, they don’t like each other, as Steve learned early on. Eleven doesn’t like the way Max — Steve doesn’t know. Dustin seems to think it’s because Max replaced her and Max is just returning the anger, but really, it was for maybe a week. And she’s jealous because Max can go to school with the boys but she has to stay hidden in Hopper’s house.

The kids all campaigned so fiercely for him to let her visit even. Steve doesn’t know the specifics, but as far as he knows she’s going to be hidden for another year, at least, so even he joined the kids in bothering Hopper. So now every Friday, Hopper drops Eleven off at the Wheeler’s at 5:15 and picks her up at 9:00.She doesn’t talk much, but the boys really don’t care. Sometimes they teach her new things, other times she shows them weird stuff she can do with her mind. It freaks Steve out, so he tries to ignore it, which makes the whole situation odder really.

“Eleven’s a Party member,” Mike tells her. “She doesn't count.”

Eleven is looking between them with a confused expression on her face. Steve decides it’s not worth giving her the time to figure it out.

Will looks at them all. “The slug isn’t dangerous, though. Dustin should keep it. It’s cool. We could do — experiments or something.”

Damn. Steve thought this kid would be the most scared but he’s actually defending it. Now he knows why everyone likes him so much, why his brother is so protective. He’s an actually good kid.

Everyone else seems to share the same notion: if Will of all people is okay with it, then it’s fine. Will is the authority on these things.

Mike and Lucas look at Eleven. “What do you think?” Mike asks her.

She shrugs. “Cool.”

“The slug stays!” Dustin declares.

“Fine,” Steve says, resigned. “But if it starts sprouting legs or-or growing or whatever, I swear to God, I will kill it myself.”

Dustin nods. “Fair enough. I call it Jabba.”

Everyone laughs, everyone except Steve and Eleven.

“What?” Steve asks.

Lucas shakes his head. “Man, you really need to watch Star Wars.”

Of course, of course, it’s a reference to another damn movie, or video game, or whatever. He checks the time. “Jesus, it’s almost 9:00. Time to go. Eleven, Hopper’s going to actually shit himself if you don’t go now.”

Dustin groans. Eleven jumps up. Hopper is really strict with her, Steve knows, and if she’s not waiting for him at 9:00 he panics.

“My brother’ll be here too,” Will says.

“Shit!” Max exclaims. “Mine too. Bye, everyone.”

Steve’s stomach drops. If Jonathan’s here, Nancy’ll be here too, and he doesn’t want Billy anywhere near her. _Jonathan will protect her_ , he tells himself, but there’s a part of him that really wants to just protect her.

_Jesus, you broke up. Get over it._

_I can’t_.

The kids follow Steve up the stairs and pass through with a chorus of “Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler.” She waves goodbye and tells Max to say hello to her brother for her. Steve sees Max pretend to vomit as she turns away. Steve really doesn’t want to hear that story.

Steve opens the door, and sure enough there’s Jonathan's car, and Billy’s too. Nancy is saying goodbye to Jonathan and they aren't taking any notice of Billy, but Steve doesn’t like the casual way Billy leans against his car smoking a cigarette, watching them.

Nancy pulls away from Jonathan and finally notices Billy. He smirks at her, his face illuminated by the streetlight. “Alright, Nancy?”

She frowns at him. She says something to Jonathan, but Steve can’t hear it. Max glares at Billy and hisses something, but he only laughs and blows out the smoke into the frigid night air. Steve shakes his head and heads to his car. Dustin is already inside.

“See, Harrington?” Billy calls out across the grass after Jonathan has driven away. “Getting there.”

Billy’s door closes suddenly, and Steve doesn’t think Billy touched it. He looks across the grass just as another car comes around the corner, lighting up Eleven’s face.

“Shit,” Steve and Dustin say in unison.

Billy sticks his head out the window and frowns at her, but then he sees Hopper’s ‘Hawkins Police’ car and he drives away, music blaring. Steve pulls onto the road and pauses beside Hopper’s car.

“Who saw her?” Hopper asks him as Eleven climbs in.

“Billy Hargrove.”

“Damn it,” Hopper mutters. “Damn it! Jane — what did we talk about?”

Steve drives away before he has to listen to Hopper’s entire lecture to Eleven. Dustin is quiet for a few moments, then he says, “I hope he didn’t properly see El.”

“Too late for that,” Steve tells him honestly, because there’s no point in hiding it.

“And then — him and Nancy.”

“Yep.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, buddy. _Shit_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos and a comment if you liked it, I really live off of them and they motivate me to write more. If you also write then you know how great it is to have some positive feedback. Let me know what you thought, even if you didn't like it! I'm always trying to improve.  
> So, this story is delving into plotlines I didn't expect (especially the Eleven thing) but you know, it's interesting, I'm winging it, we'll see how we go. If there's anything you'd like to see more of, let me know! I'm considering having different POVs, so if you like the idea of that also tell me!  
> If you like, my tumblr is inhobbok.tumblr.com — send me stuff! I love hearing from you guys!  
> (i sound so desperate for comments but the truth is I Am because feedback and the knowledge people are actually reading this is my sustenance lol)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve really has to get everything off his chest, or it’s going to suffocate him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory notice: no, Jabba is not another demogorgon nor any other kind of creature. he's just a slug. dustin misses dart. that's it. this is a character story, no monsters. i hope no one was confused because i realised after i posted that some people might think that i'm setting something up?? but nope.  
> oh, and thank you for all the lovely comments on the last chapter! everything you say really warms my heart, you're all wonderful!

Steve looks at Dustin. The kid is clutching the plastic container tightly, his fingers white. It’s odd, after everything that happened, and Steve can’t figure out why he would want yet another creature.

“Why the hell did you get another slug?” he asks, after a few moments of silence.

“I swear, Jabba is just a normal slug!”

“Okay, sure. But — _why_?”

Dustin looks down and picks at the seat. “He’s like Dart.”

Steve frowns. “Isn’t that _more_ of a reason to not have it?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But Dart was really cool, and we were friends, and I miss him. Jabba doesn't eat nougat, but he’s alright.” Dustin grins. “I checked and double-checked. One hundred percent a slug. And I swear that I’ll kill him if he gets weird. Which he won’t, because I checked.”

“Mhm,” Steve murmurs. He turns onto Dustin’s street. “Here you are.”

Steve watches as the kid runs up the driveway and disappears into his house. It’s very quiet out here, as if the trees are soaking up all the sound. It's almost peaceful, but Steve can’t enjoy it. It’s cold, there’s maybe a bit of fog but he’s not sure if it’s just the dark. He doesn’t like that. He can’t stand fog, not since last month when he went out into the fog in that junkyard and almost _died_. 

It’s stupid, he knows, but as he drives home he drives slower, much slower, because he’s scared he’s going to miss something if he speeds past and then — he doesn’t want to think about any of that.

He’s thinking of the time he and Dustin were in those tunnels, when the — the _monsters_ came running at them and Steve thought it was the end. His first thought was _shit, I’m going to die_ but the second was _shit, I need to protect this kid_. Looking back, it was odd. He’d known Dustin for maybe a few days, if that. And still — after everything he messed up, maybe he felt like he needed to do something right for once.

Well, he’s never thought of it like _that_ before. Why is his life turning into some kind of daytime TV plot? Arrogant asshole becomes a caring friend — well, maybe it’s not such a bad thing. He _was_ an asshole, and maybe it just took another asshole for him to figure out his wrongs. _I was never as bad as Billy_ , he tells himself. But then, he did break Jonathan’s camera and provoked him into a fight and said some awful things. Jonathan beat his ass anyway — does that count as paying for his sins?He can't decide.

Nancy would know, at least he thinks she would. She would be the authority on the subject — no, Jonathan would be. It was Jonathan he wronged, but he can’t just go and ask him. Jonathan probably still hates him anyway. Steve feels bad for it all, he really does.

He really has to get everything off his chest, or it’s going to suffocate him.

 

Ignoring the girls purposefully to make them crazy has turned into actually ignoring them. Steve sits on the hood of his car, eating a crappy sandwich his mom made him and trying to understand what his textbook is saying as rain runs down his face into his eyes. He wishes Nancy was here. She used to explain things in a way that made sense to him.

He parked here purposefully. Jonathan’s car is right beside him, and he intends to speak to him. He’s nervous, sure, but it’s something he has to do if he’s going to feel better about everything. He didn’t plan on, however, Billy parking right across from them.

Billy is lounging in his car, his shirt open and smoking a cigarette as always. There’s a few girls hanging around him under an umbrella, the same kind of girls who used to hang around Steve. He isn’t really paying much attention to them, and that makes Steve angry because he can see himself in that. That was him, just a year ago, and that gives him all the more reason to speak to Jonathan.

Just behind Billy, Steve sees Jonathan jogging up the grass, his arm above his head to shield himself from the rain that has been coming down all day. Steve sits up, closes his textbook, and braces himself. _Hey, Byers — no, not, Byers, Jonathan — I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry — what the hell? I doesn’t have to sound so lame._

He’s so busy rehearsing what he wants to say that he doesn’t notice Nancy next to Jonathan. Well, this day is going nicely. Just fine. Just great.

“Hey, Byers,” Billy says. He blows out smoke from his cigarette. “Nancy Wheeler.” He says her name slowly, as if he has all the time in the world. He grins crookedly. 

Nancy looks at Jonathan, who shakes his head and keeps walking. Steve is painfully aware that Jonathan has no idea what to do, and it kills him. He wants to do — something, anything, but he can’t.

“Steve?” Nancy is looking at him oddly.

He blinks out of his reverie, and looks down to see his hand curled into a fist. “Oh. Hi, Nancy.”

“Are you — are you okay?”She looks concerned. Jonathan is behind her, watching him carefully.

“Yeah, yeah, no, I’m fine, I just —” He looks at Jonathan. “Can I speak to you, for a minute?”

Jonathan hesitates. He looks at Nancy, who nods. “Uh, sure, I guess.”

Steve grabs his bag and heads to shelter under a tree. It’s nice to get out of the rain, finally. He’s been sitting on his car for a long time, and he’s soaked. His mom will kill him if he gets sick again. 

“What’s — what’s wrong?” Jonathan is smiling nervously. He keeps glancing behind Steve, at Nancy, he guesses.

“Nothing, nothing, I just wanted to say that, uh,” Steve stammers. He doesn’t really know what to say. “Well, I was a dick. A complete asshole, and I just wanted to say I’m really sorry, about your camera and the fight and —”

“Hey, it’s cool,” Jonathan cuts in. “Really, it doesn’t matter. No hard feelings.”

“No — no, it matters.” Steve rummages around in his bag, and pulls out the box he bought yesterday. “This doesn’t make up for it, I know, but —”

“No, it’s — it’s perfect.” Jonathan smiles, the nervousness fading away. “Seriously. Thanks.”

Steve nods. God, he has no idea what to do. “I’m — I am really sorry.”

“It’s — really, it’s fine," Jonathan says. He holds up the box of film. “You didn’t have to.”

“I — I don’t know. Take some nice pictures.” He nods. “And watch out for Nancy for me. Billy Hargrove’s been watching her.” 

“She doesn’t need anyone to watch out for her,” Jonathan tells him, but Steve is already gone.

He walks past Jonathan, gets in his car, and drives away. He doesn't even glance at Nancy, still waiting for Jonathan. He drives all the way to the junkyard they fought the monster in and he sits in his car and he stays there for an hour.

He should feel something, but he doesn’t. He can only think of Billy, and Nancy, and every awful thing he did. He gets out of the car and sits behind the old bus. He can see the monster there, right in front of him, clear as day as if it was that night a month ago. A quiet breeze blows through the abandoned metal, and he shivers. The rain has stopped now.

Maybe he is overreacting. Maybe Billy is only doing this to get a rise out of him. It wouldn’t be the first time Billy did something like this. Maybe he just needs to relax; he hasn’t been able to for a long time.

Something brushes against his cheek, and he flinches, batting it away. It’s a sweet wrapper. The wind? He stands up and looks behind the bus. There are a lot of them, lazily floating around in the semi-darkness under a building storm. 

“What the hell?”

The wrappers suddenly drop to the ground. There is a small movement under a pile of scrap metal. Steve has a feeling he knows what it is, but the last time something weird happened he almost died and — he doesn’t want to think of that as he steps closer.

He bends down to look under a sheet of metal, and a pile of wrappers and a small, tear-stained face looks back at him, framed by unruly curls because her adoptive father is still learning how to do her hair.

“Eleven?” Steve asks tentatively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, please leave kudos and comments, i love hearing from you and hearing that you're enjoying it! let me know what you liked, disliked, whatever, i'm happy to hear what you thought :)  
> i spent a little more time than usual on this chapter, as i'm still trying to get the voices of the characters right as i've never written any other stranger things fics before. i don't know if i'm quite there yet but i think i'm getting there... i hope   
> you can find me on tumblr at inhobbok.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve helps Eleven out, and once again runs into Steve. Things are escalating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone i am SO sorry for updating so late and i don't know how great this chapter is (ignore me it's probably a lot better than i think i'm very self-critical) but YEAh take a look, let me know what you think!

Eleven is shaking and doesn’t look like she’s going to talk anytime soon, so Steve eases himself down beside her. He’ll have to wait a while, by the looks of it. When she's upset, she doesn’t like to talk.

After a long time, she crawls out from under the sheets of rusted metal and sits beside him, wiping tears from her eyes and blood from her nose. She meets Steve’s eyes and the quickly looks away.

“Hey,” he says. “What happened?”

“Bad,” she whispers.

“Bad?” He looks around. “Where’s Hopper?”

“Dad is — Dad is home,” she says quietly. “I leave. Left.”

“You left? Why?”

“Fight. Ar— argument.” She shakes her head. “He told me I am not allowed to go out anymore.”

Because of Billy, of course. Steve isn’t surprised. Eleven’s situation is a — is a huge mess, and he has to admire Hopper for keeping her secret for so long. He doesn’t really blame him for trying to keep her hidden. Steve himself would probably do the same thing.

“So you went out,” Steve sighs. Of course, like the other kids, she does the exact opposite of what she’s supposed to be doing. He can’t believe he’s stuck with them. “And you came here?”

“No,” Eleven says. “I go to Mike.”

“Why aren’t you there?” 

“Because,” Eleven says, and now she looks like she is on the verge of tears again, “Someone chased me.”

Steve’s heart stops. “The bad men?”

“No.” Eleven mimes smoking a cigarette, and points at Steve. “Boy.”

“Shit,” Steve says. He knows exactly who she’s talking about. He doesn’t know what to do. except perhaps pat her on the back and murmur “It’s okay, we’ll get you back home and — we’ll sort out the boy.”

Eleven doesn’t look like she will be talking anytime soon. Steve sighs. He stands up and holds out a hand to her. “You coming with me?”

She looks up and hesitantly takes his hand. He pulls her up and messes her hair.

“Right. You’re going to have to give me directions, because I have no idea where you and Hopper live. Are you at that old house or Hopper's” Steve asks her as they get into his car.

“N—new house.” Eleven points somewhere across the woods. “There.”

Steve squints. Near a lake, it looks like. “Right.”

 

The house is nice, Steve supposes. It could be nicer if Hopper maybe took a little better care of it, but it’s still nice. There’s a small bike plagued by rust leaning on the wall, a bit of Christmas tinsel draped over the windows, and two chairs — one big, one small — out the front. It’s almost quaint.

Eleven stays in the car, she says she doesn’t want to go to her dad because she thinks she’s in trouble. Steve is reluctant to face Hopper alone, but someone has to. He trudges up through the thin crunchy layer of snow and knocks on the door.

There is no answer.

He knocks again, and still no answer. Steve looks at Eleven. She doesn’t say anything still. He trudges back to the car, hands in his pockets.

“Maybe he’s at the police station?” he says. If Hopper’s not there, he’s probably out looking for Eleven. He’ll take her to the Wheeler's, then. They’ll know what to do with her.

Eleven is very quiet as they drive down to the station. He hopes Hopper doesn’t go too hard on her — she seemed really shaken up, and he doesn't blame her for hiding. Hopper can be actually terrifying when he wants to be. When he and Eleven go up against each other — he can’t imagine anything worse. God, how did he get himself into this situation?

The police station is almost empty — it’s a Thursday afternoon, and nothing happens in Hawkins anyway. There are only four cars parked in front, and one is the Chief’s. Steve lets out a sigh of relief. He turns to Eleven, who is sitting with her knees tucked to her chin.

“Come on,” he says gently. “He won’t be mad, he’ll probably be glad to see you.”

Eleven mumbles something but unfolds her legs and slips out of the car. She reaches for Steve’s hand and holds it tightly. He looks at her. She's so quiet, so sad. He wonders whether it’s right to keep her locked up in the house all the time.

"Oh, thank god,” the receptionist says as they walk in. “Jane, where _have_ you been? Your father’s so worried — Hop! She’s here!”

Steve hears heavy footsteps and then Hopper appears in the doorway. He looks at Eleven, then crouches down and pulls her into a tight hug. “Hey, kid. Where’ve you been? I was looking everywhere…" He looks up at Steve.

“Hey, Chief,” Steve says awkwardly.

“Harrington,” Hopper nods. “Where was she?”

“Up in the junkyard,” Steve tells him. “She was pretty shaken up.”

“God, I’m so sorry,” he murmurs. He pulls back and messes Eleven’s hair. “You’re alright, yeah? You weren’t hurt, were you? No one saw you?” He looks at Steve for confirmation.

“Billy Hargrove saw her,” Steve offers. “She says he, uh, chased her.”

“I’ll kill him,” Hopper growls. “Damn kid. Causes more trouble than he’s worth.” He turns to Eleven again. “Did he see… _anything_?”

Eleven shakes her head. Hopper seems to deflate. “Alright, good. _That_ can be explained away. He just saw a kid. Yeah, yeah — you’re alright.” Hopper scratches at his cheek. “Maybe it’s time…”

Steve looks up as another car drives down the road and parks directly in front of the station, and his stomach tightens as he notices exactly who it is — Billy. Shit.

“Damnit,” Hopper mutters. “Jane, go to my office. Stay there, wait for me.” He looks at Steve. “You too, kid.”

Steve nods, with no hesitation to get out of Billy’s path. He sits down on the floor in the Chief’s office, while Eleven pulls a small doll from a shelf and sits it on her lap. 

“Alright, Eleven?” he asks.

“Jane,” she corrects. _Jane_. She looks very young sitting here, her hair curling around her ears, the pink doll in her hands, a shy smile on her face. But then Billy's voice comes ringing through the walls and she looks up, and behind her eyes, there is someone much older than thirteen.

“I saw a little girl, Hopper, down —”

“That’s Chief to you, kid. Hargrove, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, alright, _Chief._ I saw her walking down Kerley way, looking like she’d just walked out of the woods.”

“And what, you just watched her?”

“No, Chief, not at all, I was _concerned_ , see, you know, my sister’s about the same age and I really do care —”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about you and your sister,” Hopper says coolly. 

Billy ignores him. “So I followed her for a while, you know, just to see where she was going and to make sure she was safe. She took one look and ran away.”

“A little girl ran away because you followed her in your car?” Hopper asks him.

“I just thought I should let you know,” Billy says smoothly. “Little girl running ‘round alone in Hawkins, what with all this… _weird_ shit going on with Hawkins Lab, I thought you might have wanted to know about another weirdo. I heard there was some girl wandering around last year. Tiny thing. Short hair, little overalls. Seen her?”

“Yeah, actually, I have,” Hopper says. “Jane! Harrington!”

Steve stands up and looks at Jane, who has already made her way to the door.

“Harrington’s here?” Steve hears Billy say incredulously before both emerge from the office. Billy's eyes slide from Steve to Jane. “Yeah, Chief, that’s the kid.”

Hopper nods. “Jane, meet Billy Hargrove. Hargrove, meet _my daughter_ , Jane.”

Billy blinks. “Oh. Well, Chief, I had no idea you had a daughter. Sorry to bother you.” He looks at Steve and knocks his shoulder lightly as he passes. “Say hello to Nancy for me,” he hisses. “If you’re still talking to each other.”

They all watch him leave. Steve’s heart feels all clenched. He wants nothing more than to go out and punch Billy, and he would too if they weren’t in the line of sight of the Hawkins Chief of Police.

Hopper swears, and the receptionist swats him on the shoulder. “Not in front of Jane, Hop,” she scolds.

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Hopper mutters. He looks at Steve. “Keep an eye on her when I’m not around, alright?”

“Yeah, sure, of course,” Steve says. “I’ll, uh, I’ll see you around.” He grabs his keys inside his pocket and leaves Hawkins Police Station, his heart still beating very fast.

As he leaves, he hears Hopper crouch down and says to Jane, “What do you think about starting at a proper school?”

Steve smiles. Finally, something good is coming out of this.

But still, his thoughts are drifting to Nancy. He wants to be rid of her. He wishes nothing more than to be rid of her.

And yet he cannot be rid of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so what did you think of this? please leave kudos, a comment if you have time, i thrive off feedback and attention so yeah! and as always, thank you for reading!  
> or come say hi on tumblr: dykeamidala.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought, leave kudos and a comment if you like :) I would love to hear what you thought. I will be updating at least once a week (update: probably multiple times a week for as long as i can keep it up), possibly more depending on how people like it/ if I'm feeling inspired.  
> If there's anything you want to see, let me know!  
> My tumblr is inhobbok.tumblr.com


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